Secret
by RosaRed
Summary: AU 'Do you know who the father is? Or could it be any one of a dozen' She sneered and then laughed without humour, taking her eyes off the road to stare right into Jade's eyes with her cold grey ones as she said it. 'Drop me here, I'll get the bus.'


It was a cold day with a bright blue sky. Jade shivered slightly and crossed her arms. She could see her own breath in the frosty air, and hear the clacking of her mother's heels on the sidewalk as she approached her. When Mrs West, now just 'Ms West' after the divorce, had negotiated around the workmen and cement mixers littering the street, she motioned towards her car. It was only when the heating was on full and the ice on the windows had begun to melt that she spoke.

'So how am I supposed to react to your news?' She was disappointed, if not downright furious. Jade could tell by the way her obnoxiously long red manicured nails were drumming against the steering wheel, and her free hand ran shakily through her peroxide blonde hair.  
'I don't know. That's for you to decide.' Jade shrugged and then leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms and watching the cars they were passing by.

'Does it have a father?'

'Obviously,' She stared straight ahead, only smirking when she saw her mother getting flustered out of the corner of her eye. She never quite knew how to deal with Jade, especially now. Jade was almost twenty one and she hadn't seen her until now since the day of her eighteenth birthday.

'How did it..'

'_It_also has a name' Jade snapped, tired of her stupid mom and her stupid questions, and her obviously fake curiosity about her grandson.

'What?'

'Max.'

Having passed through all the dust and debris of the reconstruction the windscreen was dirty and the traffic was no longer at a standstill. Her mother squirted water onto the windscreen and then sped up considerably, mumbling curses at anyone who got in her way.  
'Are you married?'

'No. Look, things are not the same as in _your day_.' All the botox and hair dye could only do so much, and although Jade knew it was a cheap dig at her mother she still got the satisfaction from it through her disbelieving scoff.

'Do you know who the father is? Or could it be any one of a dozen?' She sneered and then laughed without humour, taking her eyes off the road to stare right into Jade's eyes with her cold grey ones as she said it.

'Drop me here, I'll get the bus.' She undid her seatbelt and made a move to jump out the door. She didn't care how fast they were going. All she was thinking was how the hell she could be related to such a cold bitch.

'Jade, don't be stupid.' She sighed dramatically and grabbed Jade's arm tightly to pull her back, digging in her fingernails. 'I'm just very angry, very hurt about this, Jade.' She lifted her free hand to her chest as if her heart ached as her tone grew angry.

She dropped her arm as Jade turned back around swallowing back the lump in her throat.

She sighed, deciding to just give her mom the information she wanted so she wouldn't have to bear this probing for the rest of the car journey. 'The father is called Beck. We were in a relationship – we were living together when it happened. By accident.'  
'You were living together by accident?'

'We had Max by accident.'

'Does that mean you use...?'

'What is this?' Jade's voice was close to yelling. 'Another Spanish Inquisition?' The tone put her mother off and she remained quiet for a while. The only sounds were the humming of the car's engine and the tinkling notes of a piano playing on the radio in the background. After focusing on listening to it for a while Jade realised that it was her playing. She looked curiously at her mother for a second and then shook her head. After a few moments her mom asked, 'What age?'

'Beck or the baby?'

'Don't deliberately annoy me now, Jade. For goodness sake!'

'Seventeen months.'

'Your father would have probably banned you from the house for ever and a day.'

'I know.' They both looked away from each other, Jade staring at her fingers.

They fell silent again as Ms West drove into the city, with its roundabouts and traffic snarl ups. As they sat in another line of yellow cabs she said, 'When am I going to get to see it?' Jade did not reply but stared straight ahead at the perspective straight road which led to the airport. 'I mean him. When am I going to get to see him?' She corrected her mistake.

'I don't know.' Jade shrugged casually.

'And your husband – will he appear?'

'I'm not married.'

'So you've already boasted. Will he make an appearance?'

'Don't know.'

'Jade, you're not being much help.' She sighed as she pulled in to park.

'I haven't thought all this out yet but you must always remember that there's a home for you here. And your baby. And your man if it comes to that. Especially now.' Jade was surprised when her mother helped her with her case and made to walk her into the airport.

'It would never work. But thanks, I guess.' Jade fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, feeling judged under her mother's scrutinising gaze. By now they were standing opposite each other, a couple of metres apart as Jade's flight was called and the line was getting gradually shorter.

They were standing in front of the shops near the departure gate. Her mother was clicking the car keys in her hand, almost impatiently.

'This has been a terrible shock.'

'Sorry.' She didn't even bother to hide her sarcasm.

'Are you going to keep in touch this time?' Jade was distracted by the ticking of the clock on the pillar behind her. Her flight would be leaving in a few minutes, and then only a few hours until she would see Max.

'If _you_want to.' She arched an eyebrow.

'Don't say it like that. Of course I want to. It's just so difficult for me...'

'The baby's father is no longer on the scene.' Well, at least she had had the courage to say it.

'Oh Jesus, Jade – you're really making a mess of things.' She brought her hands up to rub her temples, and Jade watched as her faux red nails drew circles, contrasting with her pale skin.

'I'm not the only single mother in the country.'

'You're the only one in _our_family.' There it was again, that sinister side to Jade's mother who loved to torment her and that only she had the pleasure of meeting.

Jade looked around at the clock, then down at her feet.

'I'm staying with friends in LA, until I get a place of my own.' She finally allowed her mind to drift back to Max and how she couldn't wait to hold him and kiss him and...

'If you want to come home,' said her mother, interrupting her thoughts and piercing the warm enclosure which shielded Jade from the past, 'I could get used to it.' Jade scoffed, she didn't think she could bear to live with her mother again.

They stood awkwardly facing one another, 'I'll send you some money.'

'No.' Jade said, a little too forcefully, 'I'll be fine.' And she would be. Perfectly fine. She hated depending on anyone.

Neither of them made a move to hug the other and so Jade hoisted her bag up until it rested in the crease of her arm, and walked through the gate and down the carpeted corridor. 'Bye, darling!' her mother called after her, which she didn't bother acknowledging.

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Beck will come into the story soon, don't worry. Reviewers go to heaven! -Rosa xo**


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